As marathon runners push themselves stride by stride to make the most of every second, footwear for their requirements is progressing at the speed of a 100-meter dash. On the heels of the lightweight and responsive Alphafly, Nike is giving more runners an experience of marathon speed with the all-new Apex running shoes.
The super expressive and tech-infused silhouette for marathoners, the Nike Apex is made to give runners another pair to appreciate and experience beyond the Alphafly 4, which was until yesterday the finest marathon racing shoe out there. Now the title is slipping in favor of the lightweight Apex that combines double-stacked Air Zoom units (a first for Nike) with a ZoomX LT foam midsole. The shoe also features a redesigned carbon fiber Flyplate and a Flyknit X upper to keep the weight and comfort in mind.
Designer: Nike
A great pair of running shoes for every runner chasing their personal best over 21 or 42 kilometers of strenuous runs, the Apex doesn’t have a price yet. If we were to guess, it could easily be around the $300 mark, slightly more than the Alphafly released earlier this year. As Nike loosely mentions, the two are not direct competitors. The Apex carries the baton for the marathoners where the Alphafly drops it. This exchange really happens in the construction and the technology that goes into the former.
The new road racing shoe tier created by the Nike Apex, therefore, is highlighted by its double-stacked Air Zoom units. This is the most Air ever applied in the forefoot of a Nike running shoe. With the softer and lighter ZoomX LT foam midsole, the shoe is designed to “compress, store, and return energy.” Deliver up to 40 percent more energy than that (comparatively) delivered by a men’s size 10 Alphafly, while being 10 percent lighter overall, Nike confirms.
The Air Zoom units on the Apex shoes sit inside a 40mm zero-drop platform and feature a new, raised inverse-wave carbon-fibre Flyplate above the Air system. This shape and stacked Air units provide greater support and stability to the wearer over long distances on tarmac. A more interesting aspect of the Apex shoes is their wider outsole and the Flyknit X fabric upper.
For those who want that bump in the stride during their training and the final runs, Nike will be releasing the Apex in January 2027 through its website. If stocks don’t run out, you should be able to get the Apex from select retail stores as well. The availability of the Nike Apex, irrespective of the price, will give marathon runners a new shoe configuration to consider. And we feel it will be an interesting one to try.
